Friendly Friends being Friendly

Yogu wasn't sure what he was expecting when he asked if she felt guilty. It was a strong no, which puts him in a staring contest against his inquisitive squint and her glare. She won; he breaks and shrugs. "Fair enough." He got the message, there would be no more pushing on that topic.

Marrow accuses him of assuming the worst, and Yogu, again, shrugs. "Well, ya did kinda fight me for my stolen bike like three days ago, so why should I not assume the worst? And if I did assume the worst, which I don't, we wouldn't even be havin' this conversation. I would've chased you out with a bat immediately. But I didn't." He just threatened her with it at first. Totally different. Again, she did have some kind of point, her life wasn't 'average' or 'normal' or 'regular' or whatever word you wanted to use for it. But for Yogu, what the hell did that matter? "Alright so you'd be the same no matter what. Who cares? If that's true then what I said still applies, if not moreso. We've all got crap goin' on under the surface. Plenty of people got it just as bad as you. Your bad past and criminal lifestyle doesn't make you some unsolvable enigma to everyone else or vice-versa. You deciding you're a special case from everyone else isn't gonna do jackshit for you."

Once those words left his mouth, Yogu could feel he was off the mark. It was starting to feel like he was just giving shit to his past self now, but throwing it at this kid instead. Yogu realizes that Marrow was probably a little right, he was being pretty unfair. He huffs and just gives a "Sorry." He wasn't sure what for specifically.

Moving on, she pokes a bunch of holes in the whole point he was illustrating with that regular. "That's not... You are a really difficult person to talk to, ya know that?" What Yogu was getting out of the conversation was that he was a pretty difficult person to have a conversation with as well.

Yogu sits there for some time in silence, having his smoke break. Eventually he figures he might as well keep the conversation going, at least back to a topic that wouldn't instigate a fight. His eyes drift from the window back to the saiyan munching down on some grilled cheese. "So how do you do that ink thing, anyways? I get that it's ki kind of, but I've never seen someone do junk like that with it. How does an orphan criminal know much about ki anyhow?"

---

Total WC: 5,012

Yogu had, in total truth, completely forgotten that he was the one that attacked them first over it. Needing to be reminded of that fact deeply unnerved him. He grows noticeably tense over this internal realization. Although on the outside, it could easily be seen as him feeling guilty over being the one to start the fight. Which he did feel, ever so slightly. He still couldn't feel that bad for attacking them when they were in the middle of walking away with his bike, though.

At the same time, feeling bad for her and being unfair were two different things. And he was being pretty unfair in the conversation. It was basically the same thing as what he accused Marrow of thinking. Who was he to tell her that how she felt about others was wrong? Him of all people shouldn't be taking the moral high ground on anything. He should, to put it legally, be sitting in a cell right now. She was right about most of the stuff they were talking about, as depressed as some of that made Yogu to admit internally. The whole conversation served to illustrate her point about changing another's opinions incredibly well.

He finishes... "Wait a minute, how many beers was I on?" Oh. He'd lost count. He finishes a beer while listening to the girl. No, nothing was better after she said all that. That much was clear on Yogu's face. He was realizing that there was no way to respond to what he said in a way that made it better. He was just being like the mean old drunks that sit around in the bar all day. Maybe spending most of your time in a beachside bar when you were a young adult out in the world for the first time wasn't a healthy decision. It certainly played a part in him picking drinking and smoking up again. That wasn't important though. What was were Marrow's next words, which finally got Yogu to understand (a little) that maybe this wasn't just somebody being a moody teen and that maybe she was someone who thought about her opinions on things. Unlike Yogu, who thought about things like how bored he was and what he wanted for lunch.

He grabs another beer while he listens to her tell him about what she took away from the little performance he gave on. He doesn't bother with arguing with her about making peoples day. Yogu had enough self-awareness to know how dumb he'd sound. She even gives him a free pass to leave the conversation, seeing as how his frustrations were clear. So he does, for a second. But his curiosity about her unique use of ki drew him back in. The story behind it was an interesting one. "Huh." He says, a little surprised. He'd never considered that some people could just start using ki. Memories of spending months of training as a kid just to be able to focus enough ki into his hand so that he could see it if he looked hard enough flashed in his mind. Yogu was also surprised to learn that magic probably played some part in the strange ki, and that her hair kind of just did that. "Neat."

"So..."

Yogu had no idea where to take the conversation. Sometimes conversations just end like that, he supposed, which was good enough for him. He cracks his new beer open and goes back to alternating between drinking and smoking while thoughtlessly staring out the window. His shift would be over soon. Yogu doesn't chance looking at the clock though, which was for the best, because it had barely moved since he last checked it.

---

Total WC: 5,630

Yogu's eyes dart back over in Marrow's direction, expecting her to go on. She doesn't. His eyes slowly drift back towards the window, snapping back to her once she starts pulling out cash. He was still half-expecting her to dine and dash, so this was a welcome surprise.

He counts the cash up, holding back the desire to tell her to buy a wallet like she told him to buy a padlock. "Heyyy, thanks for the tip." He pockets what's his and puts the rest in the register. He looks up from the register as she gets up to leave while assuring him that their meeting here was completely coincidental. "Whatever you say, long as I get a tip and you don't make a habit of bringing your buddies-in-crime here." He was mostly joking. He was at least ninety-nine percent sure them meeting again was coincidence. But he couldn't imagine Dion's reaction to coming back to his bar only to find it's become a gang hangout under Yogu's watch.

She gives him a look that he meets with mild confusion, and then Yogu's told by her that she doesn't know if she enjoyed this little... Thing; that just happened. Yogu wasn't too sure either. It had helped his shift go by a little quicker, at least. He was interested in just what she was talking about when she mentioned soothing a curiosity, but Yogu figured he wouldn't be given a straight answer if he asked, so he doesn't. Instead, he raises an eyebrow in response.

Then she shoots some ki ink stuff out of her finger, which makes Yogu jump back scared. He retreats to the kitchen doorway behind him and, upon realizing he isn't under attack, inches back to the bar. He reaches out and pinches the napkin off the table, bracing for it to blow up in his face. He looks over the address while she explains. "Wha...?" Something about the whole thing felt incredibly weird, even for Marrow. If it was anyone else he'd think he was being asked out on a date. "O-Okay... If this ends with me gettin' curb-stomped in an alley and robbed, I'm gonna be pissed." And with that, Marrow turns and walks out the door. "See ya when I see ya."

It was then that Yogu realized he never got her name. She never asked for his either. "Guess I'll get it when I show up to... Whatever this is." He looks at the address one more time before crumpling the napkin and shoving it into his pocket. Another patron calls Yogu over to close out their tab. "Yeah, yeah, comin'..." The bartender looks at the clock before walking over. Only... Three hours and fifty-eight minutes left in his shift.

Great.

---

Da End.

Total WC: 6,083